I too started pretty slowly. I couldn't think of a pullup without hurting. I am now able to do 5 full pullups.

The things that I attribute to my getting from 0 to 5 pullups are:
1. Ab work - planks
2. Negative pullups (the down slowly you mentioned)
3. Body rows (I didn't think this one would)
4. Patience
5. Not quitting
6. Support from the people in here really is what gave me the previous items in the list.

I keep my level at L1 until I can do it completely with full pullups. This is just my personal choice. I have that as my first goal. I am halfway there in number but maybe not time - I can't see the future!!

Um, how high is the pullup bar supposed to be? How wide does it need to be? Because my doors are kinda narrow and not overly tall; just standing there flat footed I'm halfway through a pullup. *rolls eyes* If I hang from the bar by picking up my feet, I can't even do one pullup. :(

Thus, pullups were assisted somewhat, and let down slowly. Push ups were girl style, and only bothered me at the very end. Squats were no problem whatsoever.

The soreness has gone away that I was asking about previously. Should I be doing triple the Recomended Daily Allowance of pull ups since I'm not doing "real" pullups? If I do that and bring it in under five minutes do I still get to level?

I'm working on the couch to 5k plan. That thing needs a sticky... it gives me somethign to do when it's not a simplefit day. I didn't cheat at all. It took me just under 90 seconds to catch my breath back after each 60 second round of jogging. When my time was finally up, I walked home. I think if I run the same route, theoretically I should wind up finishing closer and closer to my house, so I expect that Return To Base number to decrease.